The root of all evil

Underneath it all -- the devastation of our environment, the subversions of democracy, the cover ups of human rights violations -- there's one pervasive poison: Corruption. But together, we just might have the antidote.

When politicians work for people, everything we care about gets better. And when they work for big money, everything suffers. Corruption is as old as the hills, but something unexpected is happening… the tide seems to be turning. Avaazers are teaming up with local activists in places like Brazil, India and Italy to build mass anti-corruption movements, and more and more, we're winning!

The strategy is to focus on one goal: to kick corrupt politicians out of office, and so end the culture of impunity in which corruption thrives. In Brazil, we played a key role in helping pass the Clean Record Law, which barred politicians convicted of corruption from running for office. It was hailed as a political revolution, barring thousands of dirty candidates!

In Italy, we helped fight off Berlusconi's gag law, which gave cover to politicians under criminal investigation. In India, we've rallied to protect a court ruling to sack guilty leaders.

In each case, the level of public support has been gigantic. And in a social media age where we can track and counter their every move within hours, politicians are finding it hard to make their old tricks (bury something in committee, quietly buy off the press) work. This model is working -- let's take it to the next level. Use the box on the right to pledge a donation to expand our anti-corruption work with more campaigns, more investigators, more damning opinion polls and media exposes -- and let's strike at the root of what ails us.

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